Rick Neuheisel: Taylor Kelly, balanced offense paramount to beating Notre Dame

The 7-1 Arizona State Sun Devils have found ways to win without starting quarterback Taylor Kelly. They have also found ways to win with a rusty Taylor Kelly.

If ASU wants to find a way to win Saturday’s game against No. 10 Notre Dame, they will need Taylor Kelly at the top of his game, according to Pac-12 Network analyst Rick Neuheisel.

He added that it is imperative for the Sun Devils to have a balanced offense against the Fighting Irish, something that has been restored with Kelly’s return from injury.

“The rushing game has come back,” Neuheisel told Burns and Gambo on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Friday. “They (ran) for (nearly) 240 yards against Utah — who’s got one of the top defenses not just in the Pac-12, but also the country.”

ASU’s 239 rushing yards last Saturday broke a string of four consecutive games of under 140 yards on the ground. It is no coincidence three of those four games were without Kelly behind center.

“Because he’s a duel threat quarterback, because he makes people stay at home to take him should he keep the ball — he basically is a blocker…so all of a sudden the running game becomes viable again,” Neuheisel said.

With a healthy Kelly, ASU has rattled off games of 267, 436, 223, 105 and 239 rushing yards. Without him, just 138, 31 and 114 respectively.

While the improvements in the running game are evident, the Sun Devils need a little more from the Senior in the passing game.

“What has to happen for Arizona State to get back to full speed as an offense is his completion percentage has to come back up,” Neuheisel said.

Kelly completed more than 60 percent of his passes earlier this season, but has connected on only 56.1 percent since his return.

While the weather has not always been kind for ASU’s passing game (see: Washington game), completing more passes will help the Sun Devils keep Notre Dame’s defense off balance.

“It’s going to be really important to keep him clean this week, get the running game going, not be one-dimensional and get him to complete (a) high percentage of passes,” Neuheisel said.

It’s that simple. Well maybe not that simple.

Neuheisel picked the Sun Devils to win on Saturday in no small part because of Kelly.

“I just love the young man and the ways he’s responded — the way he threw the TD pass despite the tough circumstances in Seattle — the find-a-way-to-win mentality last week against Utah,” Neuheisel said.

The No. 9 Sun Devils look to garner even more national attention with a win during a start time on Saturday suitable for fans on both coasts.

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